HDFC Life Insurance on Wednesday reported a 15% year-on-year rise in its standalone net profit for the third quarter at ₹414.94 crore. On a sequential basis, the net profit of the private life insurer was down from ₹432.99 crore in the July-September quarter.
Shares of HDFC Life closed 1% lower at ₹593.70 on the NSE on Wednesday.
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Net premium income stood at ₹16,771 crore for the quarter under review, compared with ₹15,235 crore in the same period last fiscal.
The company’s total annualised premium equivalent (APE) rose 12% year-on-year to ₹3,569 crore during the quarter, with individual APE also growing at the same pace to ₹3,122 crore.
In the earnings call, managing director and CEO Vibha Padalkar said discussions with all distributors regarding the new surrender value guidelines have largely been concluded.
Commenting on news reports of a potential cap on life insurance distribution via the bancassurance channel, Padalkar said the company had received no communication from the regulator on this matter.
Reports earlier suggested that Irdai was considering such a cap to address concerns over mis-selling. These reports highlighted Irdai chairman Debasish Panda’s comments urging banks to focus on their ‘core job’ rather than prioritising insurance sales, which he had termed as ‘incidental’ to banking.
Padalkar said mis-selling complaints are actively being addressed and noted that instances of mis-selling through the bancassurance channel were lower compared to other distribution channels.
Bancassurance accounted for the highest share at 64% of HDFC Life’s ₹8,986-crore individual APE for 9MFY25. Agency (17%), broker (7%) and direct channels (11%) accounted for the rest. Padalkar said the company is focused on growing proprietary channels like agency and direct sales to diversify the distribution mix, irrespective of potential regulations impacting bancassurance.
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She pointed out that bank touchpoints are 10 times those of life insurance companies, questioning the timing of reducing such touchpoints amid declining insurance penetration.
As per Irdai’s latest annual report, India’s overall insurance penetration moderated to 3.7% in FY24 from 4% in FY23. This drop was mainly driven by a decline in life insurance penetration,
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